A Dark Rose [open, Katsumi Intro]

Katsumi touched the pieces at her belt again. Her inventory held firm upon her belt. Her hands trembled with the effort not to equip the gear. The Armor Class of her combat skirt didn't exactly fill her with confidence. The ripped page from the Sorcerer's Magazine stole her confidence as well. She'd been alone for a long time. Even when she'd been a part of a guild, she'd been alone. Could this guild change that?

Smoothing out the page against her thigh, the raven haired beauty read over it once again. Luminous Rose, pushing love into the future and weakness into the past. A guild that held love and strength together. One where she hoped her name hadn't yet circulated to in any capacity. Katsumi had sworn to herself that she'd get stronger when she escaped LAO near a year or two ago. Even while her magical powers had grown, Katsumi still felt like the weak coward from the game. Her desperation to improve had only broken her.

Katsumi peered over the page toward the shimmering pink barrier. The entrance to the guild house of Luminous Rose where the swordswoman hoped to move forward. To gain the strength she still felt she lacked. A ripple moved under the skin of her arm. Katsumi grit her teeth against the sensation. At least this time, her teeth weren't a set of fangs. That cursed lacrima held only one spot on the list of things that made the sword mage feel weak.

[You are p@#&tting things off, m-master] Ghost said floating up near her shoulder. She winced at his stuttering speech. He'd been wrecked in a fight. She hadn't paid attention to his HP. Now her patchwork barely held the floating bauble together. Robotics needed to have a few skill points dumped into it. Katsumi patted the creature to put Ghost to sleep. Taking a deep breath, she took the plunge through the barrier.

The shimmering barrier felt like it assessed her as she passed through. It didn't find her wanting however. She shuddered to think what could have happened. Then again the alignment of this guild fell fully into Lawful Good, according to the Sorcerer's Mag. Perhaps it merely would have kept her out. Katsumi brushed her fingers against the armor block and the silver hilt at her hip. Still there, still providing her with the CHA boost she needed.

The architecture here appeared to be built into the chasm itself. Katsumi gaped at the beauty portrayed. She'd never seen anything like it. The sheer illustriousness stunned the poor girl. She nearly fell victim to the cruel stair trap. Falling and nearly killing herself wouldn't be the best first impression. Sadly, it also wouldn't be the worst either. Katsumi touched the railing of the stairs, hesitantly. Even that held works of art she felt afraid to tarnish.

The roses became apparent as Katsumi carefully made her way down the stairs. They grew everywhere. Katsumi noticed banners as well. They had symbols on them. Some she understood from her gaming but others were a complete mystery to her. The sheer size of the Luminous Rose stronghold boggled the swordswoman. How could she find her way about in here? Where did she even begin to find what she needed to join Luminous Rose?

The gamer decided to trust in her LUCK stat. It had helped her on multiple occasions. Another ripple beneath her skin reminded her of the times it had screwed her over as well. Hopefully, this wouldn't be one of those times. Ghost sputtered dangerously. Katsumi decided to tinker with him while she walked. When she finally lifted her head, the swordswoman found herself at a grand bridge. It lead toward a pair of doors.

"If that doesn't scream 'final boss', I don't know what does." Katsumi muttered under her breath. The hall beyond the doors turned out to hold many massive statues cradled in crystalline and living roses. The sight enveloped the swordswoman. She approached one of the first statues. "Could I have a statue here, one day?" the swordswoman asked aloud. Her fingers brushed against the base in longing. The gamer girl sat there for long minutes, lost in her own thoughts.

Wearing her usual outfit of black long-sleeved shirt, long white pleated skirt, and brown boots, Lucia carried Shining Light in its holster on her right hip to have a weapon at her side. She had grown attached to the Holy handgun and carried it virtually everywhere with her except places where weapons were forbidden. Even though doing so might make her look like she was spoiling for a fight at best and paranoid at worst, Lucia even carried the weapon in the confines of Luminous Rose Guild Hall. Shining Light had saved her life many times and she liked to keep the weapon with her whenever possible.

Lucia was walking through the guild hall on the way to the job bulletin board to hopefully find some work to do today. Lately she had had a bit of difficulty in finding a job that suited her, but she would find one soon enough. Lucia had made a couple of contacts in the past few weeks and when they had something that needed doing she was sure that they would send for her.

As Lucia walked towards her goal she kept her eyes fixed forward. She was already focused on looking for a job where she could help people in ways other than fighting. She preferred those kinds of jobs, but in order to prove her worth to Luminous Rose Lucia would have to take the plunge and find a difficult job that might involve conflict with hostile entities. The blonde was not averse to fighting if she had to defend herself or others, but she got no pleasure out of it. She hoped that she would never get into a fight with such high stakes that she would have to kill her enemy... or enemies, whatever the case might be.

Lucia's thoughts were immediately diverted from the grim subject when she came across a female mage she had never seen before sitting in front of one of the guild hall's numerous rose statues. The blonde's eyes were immediately drawn to the unfamiliar mage and the first thing she noticed was the young woman's long black hair. The second thing the blonde noticed was that the young woman's magic signature equaled that of an experienced mage like Lucia herself.

Deciding to be friendly towards the stranger, Lucia calmly and slowly walked to within a meter of the mage before stopping and speaking to her.

"Hello there. I'm Lucia Winchester." Lucia introduced herself to the sitting mage while facing her. The blonde waited a few moments before speaking again, this time to ask a question.

"What brings you here today?" Lucia asked the question in an effort to engage the young woman in conversation. Hopefully the sight of Shining Light in its holster on Lucia's right hip would not frighten the dark-haired mage by making her think that the blonde meant her harm.

[Post Word Count: 480]
[Lucia's Word Count: 480]

Katsumi sat, engrossed in her own thoughts when a magic signature cut through the jumble. The swordswoman stood slowly as another mage introduced themselves. A guild mark didn't immediately pop out. This female could be a powerful NPC mage, a quest giver or important character later in the story. As Katsumi attempted to sus out the intentions of the female, her relatively low Charisma finally kicked her in the head. "Hi. I'm Katsumi Akahoshi."

The raven haired woman hoped fiercely that this one hadn't heard of her. She desperately wanted Luminous Rose to be a fresh start. Before another thought could cross her mind, Katsumi caught sight of the weapon at Lucia's side. Her face lit up with excitement. "Is that a Light series magitech pistol? Does yours fire lacrima, mana or regular bullets? I know that different designs us different ammo. The damage on these things is sick and the DPS is pretty great though nothing compared to the Blast series." The weapons enthusiast caught sight of the writing on the side of the gun, what little peeked from the holster. A gasp slipped from her mouth. "That's a Shining Light! O.M.G. those models are limited addition and to die for! I'm like so jelly, I wish I had a marketing skill high enough to find one."

The swordswoman froze when she realized she'd kind of word vomited all over Lucia. She coughed, smoothing out her black skirt. "Sorry. Um, I'm here to join Luminous Rose?" The paper in her hand crinkled as Katsumi held it out. "Would you know how I apply? Is there a starting faction quest, I mean, is there a trial to join?" Katsumi hoped this Lucia had an important NPC status or could point her in the direction of one. So long as Lucia didn't have her thrown out, things would be okay. She didn't want to fail her personal quest before it had even begun.

WC: 322/1024

Lucia hoped that the presence of the weapon on her side would not scare the young woman, but as it turned out, she was not frightened of it at all. She watched the young woman who introduced herself as "Katsumi Akahoshi" suddenly come to life when she spotted Shining Light sitting in its holster.

Katsumi gave a lot of information about the Holy handgun in a short time and even listed its model name. Lucia was surprised to hear that the young woman knew so much about a handgun she had never seen before. Then again, Katsumi had to have a lot of experience with weapons to know so much about it. The question about what kind of ammunition it used came up, leaving Lucia to scramble for an answer.

"I don't know what exactly my handgun fires, Katsumi, but I know that it doesn't use normal ammunition. I never need to reload it no matter how many times I fire it. I don't know for certain, but I'd say that it's Lacrima-based because I don't feel like I expend any of my magic power when I fire it." Lucia did her best to give a satisfactory answer based on what she knew. She only could say with certainty that it did not use actual bullets. Perhaps she could learn more about what kind of ammunition system it used if she described what it did.

"I know that Shining Light's a Holy handgun because I've taken it to Haunted Guild and Silent Cemetery. It can kill ghosts and zombies without me needing to do anything special with it or its ammunition. I just draw the pistol and shoot them and they're harmed by my shots." Lucia added. She doubted that that description would be very much help, but she never knew. It was worth a shot... pun not intended.

"I called my handgun Shining Light without really knowing its model name. I bought it in Hargeon Town some time ago. Several months ago, to be a little more exact. The man who sold it to me told me that the person who sold it to him said something about a "shining light", so I called it Shining Light." Lucia told Katsumi a little about how she had acquired the Holy handgun in response to being told that "Shining Light" was its model name. Lucia had no idea that it was a limited edition model... she had assumed that it was a mass-produced handgun that happened to be geared towards fighting the supernatural. Then again, mass-produced handguns would not have snakeskin grips or writing in another language on both sides of the slide.

Lucia recalled Katsumi asking her about how to join Luminous Rose and changed her focus from learning more about her Holy handgun to doing her best to helping Katsumi.

"If you want to join Luminous Rose, you should talk to one of the Aces or the Guild Mistress. Unfortunately I'm fairly new to the guild myself, so I don't know who they are yet." Lucia told the dark-haired mage who to talk to about joining up. The blonde had not yet met any of the Aces or the Guild Mistress, but most of that was Lucia's fault. She stayed on the go doing jobs for the guild and kept to herself instead of making an effort to learn about the Aces or the Guild Mistress. At the very least she should have known their names by now.

Turning her thoughts back to Shining Light for a moment, Lucia slowly and carefully took it out of its holster and turned it around to hold the barrel in her hand, then held the pistol out with the grip pointing towards Katsumi.

"Would you like to hold Shining Light?" Lucia offered to Katsumi. Since the dark-haired mage had told her so much about the weapon, Lucia figured that she deserved a chance to hold it for a bit.

[Post Word Count: 658]
[Lucia's Word Count: 1,138]

As Lucia responded to Katsumi's question, the weapon smith's mind started working. She rubbed her chin with a finger. Her brow furrowed as she contemplated the possibilities. "I wonder... maybe the designers have it pull ambient mana in the air. The bullet condenses within the barrel before firing." The swordswoman smiled wanly at Lucia. Her brain struggled to remember that not everyone made the same leaps. "Uh, I mean I've never seen a lacrima bullet that doesn't require a reload, plus you don't think it uses your mana. I'd love to study it sometime."

Lucia's additional info about the gun threw Katsumi even more. A gun that infused a Holy attribute into bullets that didn't require reloading? Granted, she didn't think a Holy attribute was needed for zombies. Zeds just needed their head smashed in. Ghosts or spectral entities, on the other hand, always needed some kind of magical reinforcement in order to hurt them. Katsumi could only imagine the magical enchantments that must have gone into the gun. Maybe the materials had something to do with the infusion.

The story of how Lucia got the gun and named it pulled Katsumi from her speculations. The raven haired mage had to wonder. Was the gun a quest item? One that would eventually become a legendary powerful aid to its wielder? Katsumi wished her Affinity with Lucia could be higher. Maybe that she had a high enough CHA to make friends. That might allow her to study the gun closer or even watch it grow with Lucia. Katsumi wondered if she could be happy in a side character role of observation. She'd never tried that before. It felt too close to being an NPC again.

Lucia talked about finding Aces or the Guild Mistress but unfortunately knew none of them. Katsumi rubbed her forehead. "Would you perhaps want to party with me find them? A bit of a side quest if you will. I'm kind of lost down here without quest markers." She looked around at the towering statues. It looked like a grand entrance to a significant location in a central area of a game. "Is this the guild hall? Or was it one of those other buildings out there?" More questions bubbled into Katsumi's mind but they were forgotten as soon as the handgun was offered to her.

The swordswoman rubbed her hands together. "I'd love to." Her fingers closed around the grip before the words finished. The grip felt supple against her palm. "How long have you had Shining Light again?" Katsumi asked, rolling the gun to poke at it. There didn't appear to be too much wear on it. Perhaps a rejuvenation spell embedded into the skin of the grip. That couldn't be on the metal. It would interfere with any spells infusing elements and the creation of bullets - assuming her guesses were correct. When she had looked her fill - without taking it apart - Katsumi handed the gun back to Lucia. She smiled widely at her soon to be guild mate. "Thank you for that, I really appreciate it."

WC: 515/1539

A trail of smoke wafted in the air as the red headed huntress walked trough the halls. The taste of tobacco and smoke in a her mouth was a familiar taste. Her right hand moved to her mouth removing the cigarette as smoke plumed from her lush lips. Her black long coat swayed gently with every step she took. Her golden eyes eventually sighting a small crowd of individuals gathering. Out of courtesy she took the cigarette and crushed it in her hand, the barely audible sound of the embers sizzling Natalia's flesh cued the Vanhellsing that the embers were snuffed out. She did so unflinching with out a care. She opened the palm of her hand, black shadows curled from her tips and consumed the crushed cigarette until there was nothing left. V, Natalia's butler watched as the cigarette burns in her hand heal at a rapid rate until no mark was left. "There seems to be some sort of gathering up ahead, would you like to say hello Lady Vanhellsing?" V inquired as he kept pace with his masters stride. Natalia remained silent as she continued down her path towards the group. Her face that was once stoic and cold, shifted instantly to a welcoming warm face.

She approached the group, recognizing only one face, Lucia, the first one to welcome her into the guild. "Hello, how is everyone?....Would you all like some freshly baked cookies?" Natalia inquired as she held out her hand, a black inky portal formed above, a d bag of warm cookies dropped from the inky shadows before the portal vanished completely. Despite the random greeting, Natalia's smile was as warm as the midday sun, and just as sweet as the freshly baked cookies in the bag. Her voice was soothing, similar to warm honey in its texture. Her once cold golden eyes, was now comforting and warm like the fires from a hearth. The perfect image of a warm welcoming member of Luminous Rose. V, simply smiled and nodded allowing his master to take the lead.

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344 words

Lucia heard Katsumi ask if the former would "party" with her to find the guild's higher-ups who could formally induct the dark-haired young woman into Luminous Rose. Lucia blinked.

What did "party" mean in this context?

Did Katsumi want to throw a party here and now?

Lucia kept her questions to herself and instead recalled the dark-haired mage's opinion on how Shining Light did what it did. Katsumi offered a lot of valuable insights that the blonde did not have before speaking to her, but now Lucia had almost as many questions as she did answers. Lucia knew very little about her weapon other than it was a Holy handgun that for whatever reason did not require reloading... maybe she should take it back to Hargeon Handguns and speak to Edgar about Shining Light to get a full explanation from someone who knew handguns inside and out.

Speaking of Shining Light, Katsumi was eager to examine the Holy handgun. She took the offered grip of the weapon with palpable enthusiasm. Lucia showed visible amusement as Katsumi looked the weapon over. There was a certain levity to the scene that the blonde had not experienced in quite some time.

Not since her family was all alive and together.

Lucia put the past aside when she realized that Katsumi had asked her a question concerning how long the blonde had owned Shining Light.

"I've had Shining Light for almost a year now, Katsumi." Lucia answered the question. It had been almost a year, give or take a few months. The passage of time had been sort of hazy for the blonde ever since she had risen from her grave almost a year ago. But Katsumi did not need to be bothered with that trivial detail.

Katsumi held out Shining Light for Lucia to take back and the blonde gently took it back, being careful not to seem like she was snatching it back from Katsumi.

"It's no problem, Katsumi. I'm glad that you were able to see a working model of Shining Light for yourself." Lucia said to the young woman. Lucia had just reclaimed her Holy handgun and was about to holster it when a pink-haired young woman arrived in an eye-catching manner. The pink-haired young woman named "Lyra" stated that she could help Katsumi with her problem and gave a small nod towards Lucia, who finished holstering Shining Light and raised her right hand in greeting.

"Hi Lyra." Lucia politely greeted the pink-haired young woman. Moments after greeting the new arrival a familiar face showed up and Lucia saw Natalia put in an appearance along with her immaculately dressed companion wearing his distinctive red coat and yellow sunglasses.

"Hi Natalia. I'm doing all right." Lucia greeted the new arrival. This was getting to be quite the crowded little gathering. She wondered if anyone else was going to join the gathering before everything was said and done.

[Post Word Count: 486]
[Lucia's Word Count: 1,624]

Katsumi mulled over the wear that should be showing after a year. It seemed like Lucia held an active disposition. Likely Shining Light had been used many times. Given how her old Henken hilts had looked, even with the gloves she tended to use, there had to be rejuvenation magic in Shining Light. Maybe Lucia would let her exercise her Engineering skill on Shining Light. Katsumi would love to copy the rejuvenation onto her new Ever Blossoming. The constant shifting modes wore on the weapon. She had to make repairs often.

The swordswoman tensed as a new person entered the questing area. How had she missed them? Granted her heightened senses were new and geared more towards smelling but her Perception should have been high enough to notice! Dratted Shining Light with is beautiful curvature, mysterious inner workings and magical enigmas had distracted her thoroughly. Her hand curled around the hilt at her waist. Would this person recognize her? Though Katsumi had a niggling in her brain that the LAO incident hadn't spread much outside of Midi. The rarity of those who knew about it in Fiore still astounded her though. Practically everyone on Midi had known her uncle Kayaba Akahoshi and had learned her name. Usually to curse it.

Katsumi realized, way later than she should have, that she should smile at the newcomer. Curse her low Knowledge (Streetwise) for failing to warn her sooner! The swordswoman managed a tight lipped smile at the newcomer. Anything more might look bad, right? She needed to work on her interaction skills. Those low ranks were killing her sociability. "Hi..." Katsumi managed hesitantly before the pink haired invader launched into a spiel. It marveled her that people could easily talk to people or butt into a conversation like that.

Her mouth opened to reply to Lyra's question, Katsumi suddenly caught the scent of something delicious. Her head snapped toward the delectable smell. Unbeknownst to the slayer, her eyes flashed a vibrate purple. Her teeth elongated into points. A woman walked toward the group, putting something into her mouth. Something or someone walked alongside her. Where was that smell...? It vanished suddenly. Katsumi's teeth clicked together in frustration. The purple slowly faded away. When her Wisdom save finally kicked in, the swordswoman tried not to let horror cross her features. Her unwanted, terrible new powers had some unpleasant side effects. One of those happened to be the desire for flesh, blood and bone. Delicious scents tended to terrify her since they could be an innocent cut on a human or some actually succulent treat.

The newcomer smiled warmly at everyone, asking a few questions. Katsumi shook off the remnants of that hated power. However, a cold scent flickered across her nose from the new woman. The dichotomy between the cheery appearance and the scent made Katsumi want to check her Intelligence score. How did one with such a warm demeanor smell icy? Then again, LAO had repeatedly taught her not to judge by appearance. More than one person had gone for the PVP backstab kill. Katsumi managed to give the noob another tight lipped smile. Lucia greeted the woman as Natalia.

"Hi, Natalia. Uh, I'll take a cookie." Katsumi gingerly took a cookie. She nibbled on it for a moment before turning toward Lyra. "I am looking for an Ace or... is Mistress Desiree the guild master NPC? They'd fulfill the quest objective too. I'm hoping to join the Luminous Rose faction if there are any openings. Might you guide me towards one or the other?" Lyra appeared to be a PC in Katsumi's reckoning. After all, only players used the fastest way towards their objective whether it be over, under or through. She'd have to be careful interacting with this one until she could rank up her interaction skills. Lucia and Natalia too until she could determine their status as NPC or PC. Hopefully, Katsumi had kicked off the ending of her current quest. She wasn't sure how many more people she could handle meeting.

WC: 673/2212

Natalia observed the demeanor of the new comer, she observed Katsumi with her golden eyes from behind her warm and welcoming smile. Natalia listened to the inflection of Katsumi's voice, the way she spoke, the way she held herself. The minuscule details, the slight move meets of her body language all of it Natalia watched and kept a mental note. However none of this was revealed for she played her part perfectly, from her breath to her heart beat, Natalia remained calm and relaxed as she emitted a warm cheerful demeanor. It wasn't just Katsumi, but all those who were in the group were all subject to Natalia's scrutiny and watchful gaze. Each person she observed passively in a critical manner, a useful habit, a skill which Natalia utilizes to help her mold her persona to seamlessly blend in with the people around her. The duality of her inner mechanisms of her mind was carefully hidden by her pleasant aura, not a single crack or blemish in her brilliant act.

"That's wonderful to hear, I'm glad you're doing well..." Natalia replied back to Lucia in a seemingly genuine cheerful tone. The huntress, turned and looked at Katusmi, making direct eye contact with the raven haired mage. A reassuring nod came from Natalia as she tilted the bag of cookies too Katsumi. Natalia then proceeded distributing the rest of the delicious sweets to all those who were craving a cookie. The crimson haired hunter shifted her golden gaze to the short haired red mage. With a quick glance Natalia read the text on Mysie's device.

"They're chocolate chip, my little brother baked them himself..." Natalia beamed proudly as she showed the pristine cookies too Mysie. "I have more cookies actually... my brother had gotten too excited and ended up baking a few dozen cookies... please help yourself to them." Natalia chuckled in amusement as she recalled the narrative of her brother's baking spree. Natalia turned to her trusty companion and gave V a nod. Her butler smiled and snapped his fingers, shadows began to coalesce around his hands materializing two bags of cookies in each arm. Each bag was filled to the brim of seemingly freshly baked cookies, all of which were packaged neatly in plastic wrappings and a cute pink ribbon. V then approached the group and handed each person of the group a cookie bag until there was none left.

"Miss Vanhellsing.... we should get going.... you have a meeting scheduled at 3:30pm with one of our clients." V reported respectfully. Natalia sighed as if disappointed that she had to be whisked away from her guild mates.

"Very well.... It was a pleasure seeing you all... but it seems that I have an appointment set... I hope you enjoy the cookies." Natalia smiled sweetly as she gave a gentle bow before excusing herself. But before she departed from the group she turned back once again to Mysie. Natalia's hands moved about in a certain ebb and flow, which was most certainly Stella sign language. "If you like the cookies, let me know if you want more... and tell your sisters I said hello" Natalia winked playfully before waving goodbye to everyone.

Natalia began walking towards the exit but stopped briefly as she passed by Katsumi. Before leaving Natalia leaned in and whispered to Katsumi's ear. "A word of advice miss Katsumi.... the people here are real.... they're made out of flesh and blood not ones and zeros... they're here to help... no need to be nervous....oh...and I certainly hope the cookies help with your apatite....you seem a bit peckish..." In a blink of of eye, Natalia and V vanished leaving the faint wisps of shadows where they once stood.

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622 Words

Things were getting crowded. First the pink-haired mage had shown up. Then a red-headed mage had shown up. According to the pink-haired mage, the redhead was one of the "Faulkner" sisters, all of whom were Luminous Rose Guild Aces. Lucia blinked when she heard that bit of information.

She did not know that siblings could become Guild Aces.

Lucia was under the impression that only one mage out of a family of siblings could be a Guild Ace.

Lucia did not comment on that and instead watched and listened to the interactions between the other Luminous Rose members. Natalia was doling out chocolate chip cookies to anyone who wanted them. Lucia was halfway tempted to take one, but the interactions between other guild members were occupying her attention, so the blonde did not take a cookie right away. However, Lucia ended up getting a carefully wrapped and adorably decorated bag of cookies anyway courtesy of the well-dressed man in the red coat. The bag of cookies was a gift she did not object to.

"Thanks, Natalia." Lucia said to Natalia after receiving the cookies. She watched as Natalia bade the other mages farewell for the time being, then spoke to Katsumi. Lucia did not hear what was being said and was not concerned about it because listening in would be a gross violation of their right to privacy. Instead Lucia turned her attention to the redhead and noticed that she had an iLac in her hand. She was using it to communicate with the others for reasons Lucia did not know.

By the time Lucia turned to face Katsumi again Natalia and her faithful red-coated companion had vanished, leaving the blonde mystified as to where the two had went. She did not have very long to ponder that mystery because she turned her attention back to what was going on with the others. There were so many people around and so many conversations going on at once Lucia had no idea what was going on, so she remained silent and let the others talk... until she made eye contact with the red-headed Ace. Lucia recalled that the redhead's name was Mysie... she had introduced herself as that with the aid of the iLac.

"It's nice to meet you, Mysie." Lucia casually greeted the newly arrived Ace. Lucia was not sure why Mysie carried the iLac and used it to communicate, but that did not matter much to the blonde. The redhead had her reasons and that was all Lucia needed to know on the matter.

"I might be overstepping my bounds by asking this, Mysie, but I'm curious. All three of you Faulkners are Aces, right? How does that work?" Lucia asked Mysie. Lucia hoped that Mysie would not take the wording of her questions as jealousy of their high position within Luminous Rose. The blonde was not one to furiously scale the guild ladder in pursuit of authority because she was content to be an ordinary member of Luminous Rose.

The only power Lucia pursued was personal power and she pursued that for several reasons. One of them was that she wanted to pull her weight in Luminous Rose. Another was that she had to be strong to survive the tougher jobs she took from time to time. A third reason was that she wanted to survive long enough to reunite with her sister Diana and her odds of achieving that goal would be improved if she became stronger.

[Post Word Count: 580]
[Lucia's Word Count: 2,204]

Katsumi found the amount of people to be exceeding her social quota for today. From what Lyra said, there might be even more people headed their way. The Faulkner sisters, the pink haired mage had called them. Were they as perky and amiable as these other Luminous Rose members? The raven haired swordswoman wondered if she'd be able to fit into this faction. She tended to play best solo or with only a small party that she knew fairly well. Her fingers tightened upon the silver hilt attached to her belt.

Ghost beeped to warn her of another presence. The swordswoman felt nervous to the point she nearly drew her blade on the newcomer. The red haired mage tapped furiously on a iLac. Katsumi furrowed her brow in confusion before the iLac spoke. Apparently, this one was an high ranking NPC? Either that or one of the annoying 'know everyone' NPCs you constantly had to talk to. Katsumi decided to roll her LUCK. "I'm the noob here, missus Mysie. I'm not a new member yet but I uh... I'd like to be." Even if she doubted what her place might be in LR, Katsumi's CHA save resolved towards joining.

As Natalia continued to appear as a cheerful female, Katsumi wondered if she'd smelled wrongly earlier. Not that she knew what the various scents meant anyways. Natalia would be one that Katsumi would keep an eye on. That didn't stop the raven haired woman from snagging a few more cookies. Cookies were love, cookies were life. Especially if they were chocolate chip. As Natalia leaned to whisper in her ear, Katsumi flinched. Her hilt nearly left her belt. The other mage's words left Katsumi pale. Her pupils shrank, the cookies falling from nerveless fingers. Did Natalia know of her curse? Had she sensed the hunger that never ebbed? Katsumi checked, but the hunger didn't seem diminished. That let her calm a bit.

If these people were flesh and blood, perhaps they were companion NPCs? Katsumi's mouth opened slightly. Had she accidently triggered any Death or Romance flags? She wasn't ready for either consequence! Those death flags were the worst, subtle bastards before you got to know and like the NPC. Then BAM! They were snatched away. Romance flags weren't much better. Katsumi wouldn't mind a relationship but she wasn't sure anyone here was even her type. Could they understand her need for a few solid hours of gaming?

Katsumi shook herself. Retrieving the cookies, the swordswoman looked around. "Are all Luminous Rose faction members this... cheerful and amiable?" She asked quietly. "Or did my gacha roll just hand me all the members like that?" The swordswoman shook herself. A more important question needed to be asked. "Miss Mysie, is there a ritual, quest or trial I must complete to join the Luminous Rose faction?"

WC: 473/2685

Lucia quietly listened to Mysie's answer to her question of how all three Faulkner sisters could serve as Guild Aces. It was a short and sweet explanation that amounted to "Desiree" allowing all three Faulkners to serve as Aces. The answer Mysie had given the blonde was good enough for her and Lucia did not press the matter any further.

"I didn't understand how such an arrangement worked, but now I do. Thanks, Mysie." Lucia said to Mysie. The blonde had her answer and she was going to let the matter drop now that her curiosity had been satisfied. Lucia turned her attention to another subject, which was the ongoing conversation between Katsumi and Mysie. Katsumi had employed some rather odd jargon during the conversation, jargon that the blonde mage had never heard before and thus did not understand.

What was a noob?

What was a gacha roll?

Lucia was not sure, but she kept her mouth shut rather than ask a dumb question. She instead listened to Mysie explain to Katsumi what needed to be done to join Luminous Rose. Mysie then gave Lyra the honor of giving Katsumi the stamp that would make the dark-haired young woman an official member of Luminous Rose. Lucia waited in silence for the pink-haired mage to give Katsumi the stamp and realized that this would be the first time Lucia had ever watched someone be given a guild stamp. Then again, Lucia had been a Guildless mage up until a short time ago, so she would not have been a witness to an occasion like this.

While she waited for the stamping to take place she carefully opened the small bag of cookies that Natalia had given her, then gently removed a cookie from its plastic home. Lucia carefully took a bite out of it and found it to have a pleasant taste. Lucia put the rest of the cookie in her mouth and realized two important things.

She needed to ration her cookies now if she wanted to have some for later.

Also, she could really go for some coffee right about now.

[Post Word Count: 352]
[Lucia's Word Count: 2,556]

The swordswoman nibbled on her cookies as she listened to the conversations going on around her. Some of the words were aimed toward her even. It reminded her of the early days of LAO. A profound loneliness unfurled wicked claws to sink deep into her heart. When had she last been around this many people in pleasant conversation? Katsumi had thrown herself into redeeming her uncle's horrendous acts. She'd avoided making any connections whatsoever. There had been a constant feeling like everyone could see the sins layered onto her skin. A feeling of being absolutely repellant for her uncle's actions especially when people knew who she was.

Sniffling, Katsumi tried to hold back the tears threatening to fall. No one needed to pity her. They were all nice people that didn't need to be saddled with her pain. Mysie's sudden loud rebuke of her misuse of honorifics caused the swordswoman to jump. Unable to stop them, the tears started to stream down her cheeks. Ignoring said waterworks, Katsumi bowed stiffly to Mysie. "I apologize, Mage Mysie. I've seldom run into those who are not as they appear." The words felt uncomfortable as Katsumi made a conscious effort not to use gamer jargon. "I am called Katsumi uh... A-akahoshi." She winced, not having intended to reveal her name. Fiore might be a long way from Midi but news could travel far.

Katsumi tried to scrub the tears from her face. They wouldn't stop flowing. Straightening, the swordswoman held up a finger. She even attempted a watery smile. "I apologize. If you'll give me a moment..." The sword mage took a step away from the group. Several shuddering breaths couldn't help control the tears. Emotions had been held in for too long. They were bubbling to the surface, forcing their way through the crack in her control. Desperate to regain control, Katsumi shoved an entire cookie into her mouth. The bite accidentally caught her tongue. "Raging llamas!" She screamed. Now the tears were falling for a whole other reason. Still that sudden pain seemed to help bring the impulsive crying to a halt.

Wiping away the tears, Katsumi turned back toward the group. A wane smile crossed her face. Rolling up the sleeve of her jacket she offered her arm to Lyra. "If you'd do me the honor, Miss? ... uh Mage Lyra." The pale white of her skin made Katsumi grimace. A faded guild tattoo of the Rune Knights adorned the flesh on the inside of her elbow. She hadn't tried too hard there, had she? Instead that position had been used to hide and unleash rage. Pathetic. Katsumi felt ready to start a new chapter. Even as she thought that, the specter of her uncle Kayaba laughed. Taking the first step on a new path was a long way from accepting your demons.

WC: 473/3158
Total: 9622